Mindset: Growth & Fixed 1

Mindset: Growth & Fixed

Twitter: @moremindroom

www.themindroom.com.au

Have you ever wondered why some highly “talented” people

never reach their potential? Or have been amazed when

seemingly “ordinary” people achieve extraordinary things?

Professor Carol Dweck1-4

proposes that the key isn’t talent or

ability; it’s whether a person looks at their ability as something

inherent that needs to be demonstrated, or as something that can

be developed and cultivated. In short, it is about a person’s

mindset.

Growth and fixed mindset

Mindsets are beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities,

such as your intelligence, talents, and personality. People have

been found to generally subscribe to one of two mindsets:

Fixed Mindset: In this mindset our personal traits and qualities

are “carved in stone” and nothing can be done to change

them. Skills, talents, and capabilities are considered to be

predetermined and finite. Talent or natural ability alone is

seen to create success - without effort.

Growth Mindset: In this mindset our traits and qualities are

things that can be developed through dedication and effort.

Qualities like intelligence are seen as a starting point;

however, success comes as a result of effort, learning, and

persistence. Accomplishment is seen to be achieved through

passionate practice, perseverance and learning.

Where does our Mindset come from?

Mindsets are created in childhood and extend into adulthood.

Role models such as parents and teachers are instrumental in the

development of either a growth or fixed mindset. Well-intended

messages of praise from influential figures can send a judgmental

message, as opposed to a developmental message.

A child that works hard must be recognized, regardless of the

outcome. Alternatively, a child that puts in little effort but still

succeeds should be given a more challenging task, as opposed to

praising their ease of success. Children, and adults, should be

taught to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, value effort,

and keep on learning.

Books

Mindset: The new psychology of success, Carol Dweck.

Website

www.mindsetonline.com

Questions

? Do you spend more of your

time in a growth or fixed mindset?

? What creates a growth mindset

in you?

“I have missed more

than 9000 shots in my

career. I’ve lost almost

300 games. Twenty-six

times I’ve been trusted to

take the game winning

shot and missed. I’ve

failed over and over and

over again in my life.

And that is why I

succeed. ” Michael Jordan

Mindset: Growth & Fixed 2

How does our Mindset affect us?

The fixed mindset focuses on judging when interpreting events,

e.g., this means, “I am a loser” or “my partner is selfish”. Whilst

the growth mindset focuses on the implications of events for

learning and constructive action, e.g., “What can I learn from

this?” or “How can my partner and I do this better?” Research

demonstrates that each mindset leads to predictable patterns of

thinking, feeling and behaving, as seen below.

Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset

Motivated to Prove themselves Learn from their experiences

Challenges Avoid challenges Embrace challenges

Obstacles Give up easily Persist in the face of setbacks

Effort See effort as pointless See effort as the path to mastery

Criticism Ignore feedback Learn from feedback

Success of

Others

Feels threatened Inspired and learns from others

Performance Plateaus early and achieves

less than their full potential

Reaches ever-higher levels

Can you change your Mindset?

While it requires effort, it is definitely possible to change from a

fixed mindset to a growth mindset, here’s one way to do it:

Step 1: Learn to hear your fixed mindset voice. It may say

things like “Why bother trying – I’ll probably fail and look like a

fool” or “You don’t have the talent for this”.

Step 2: Recognise that how you interpret challenges,

setbacks, and criticism is your choice. You can choose to

interpret them through a fixed mindset or through a growth

mindset.

Step 3: Practice using a growth mindset voice, e.g., saying

things like “I’m not sure I can do it now, but I can learn to with

time, effort and persistence”.

Step 4: Take action. Act in accordance with your growth

mindset voice by embracing challenges, seeing effort as the

path to mastery, learning from and persisting in the face of

setbacks and criticism, and finding inspiration from the

success of others.

Questions

? What does your growth mindset

voice say?

? What action could you take to

adopt a growth mindset in

different domains of your life?

Action

1. People often tend to be more one

mindset than the other, depending

on the context. For example, you

may have a growth mindset at

work but a fixed mindset at home.

To explore your dominant mindset

complete a short questionnaire at:

http://mindsetonline.com/testyour

mindset/step1.php

2. Who do you know that exhibits a

growth or fixed mindset? Observe

and learn from them – what to do

and what not to do.

“Children, and adults,

should be taught to love

challenges, be intrigued

by mistakes, value effort,

and keep on learning.”

1. Dweck, C. (2007). The secret to raising smart kids. Scientific American Mind, 18(6), 36-43.

2. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Randsom House.

3. Dweck, C. S. (2010). Mind-Sets. Principal Leadership. 4. Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can

undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 33.